Never the Same
by Dr.House.fan
Summary: House becomes sick and has his life threatened causing trauma. bad summary sorry! eventually Huddy
1. Chapter 1

**so I posted the beginnings of a fic on here a while back and never continued it (so sorry if any one was interested in it!). I decided to write a fic whenever an idea popped into my head and I'm just now deciding to post some**

**I'm sorry if at times it seems to ramble/get too descriptive, because I know that when I'm reading along as I write it seems too much at times**

**also, some of the ideas I get are brought on from other people's fics so I apologize if it ever seems like another one  
**

**I hope you like this story and that I can continue it**

**(disclaimer: don't own House. :) )  
**

Chapter 1

House was lying face down on the floor in his office unable to get up. Pain was shooting through his thigh and his head was pounding. He heard footsteps, then felt someone grabbing him and rolling him over. His heart was racing and he was breathing heavily.

"House! Can you hear me? What's wrong?" he heard someone ask, almost as if to answer his hand shot down to his thigh. He closed his eyes and could feel them lifting him on to a gurney. When he opened his eyes everything seemed blurred by the pain, but before he shut them again he saw Cuddy and Wilson both with looks of concern on their faces. He passed out.

A few hours later he woke up noticing that they had changed his clothes, he was now wearing a hospital gown. The pain in his leg had decreased, but it was still there, worse then it had been in a long time. Looking around he noticed that nobody was in the room with him. _I must not be dying then, _he thought to himself before drifting back off to sleep.

He was pulled out of a deep sleep as he felt someone quickly pulling the covers back. House winced feeling the sudden cool air on his bare legs. He opened his eyes feeling someone pulling out his IV. A man was standing above him.

"Get up!" the man growled. House looked at him confused. The man pulled him up sending a sharp pain through House's thigh. House cried out and the man clamped his hand firmly over House's mouth. The man stuck his head outside of the room and looked both ways. Still holding on to House he opened a closet in the room and pulled out a white lab coat and put it on. He let go of House and House sighed in relief. The man pulled out a large knife.

"You make one false move, and they're gonna find you dead with only the handle of this hanging out of you." the man threatened. House nodded as the man shoved the knife into the coat where only House could see it. He then grabbed House's arm and pulled him out of the room. The sudden movements made House dizzy and intensified the pain in his leg. He limped as fast as he could as the man dragged him to the elevator.

The man pulled House into the elevator and shut the doors. House collapsed as the man let go of his arm. The man pushed the button to stop the elevator and the lights shut off. House's mind was racing and his heart was pounding quickly against his chest as he tried to figure out what was happening. He tried to figure out what time it was and it was almost as if his captor had read his mind as he pulled out a cellphone. Flipping it open he turned to House, his face lit up by the screen and asked casually,

"What time is the dean usually here?" Silence followed the question. The man moved towards House pulling the knife out again.

"I asked you a question!" he growled. House looked at him before answering quietly,

"The dean is usually here by nine." He looked back down at the floor.

"Damn." the man cursed under his breath, "we're just going to have to wait in here until then." He flashed an evil smile at House in the dark. House leaned his head back and closed his eyes, before long he was asleep.

What felt like only a few minutes later someone was shaking him awake. House opened his eyes confused. Then it all came back to him, he had hoped it was only a nightmare.

"Come on get up!" the voice interrupted his thoughts. House was pulled up and closed his eyes quickly as dizziness overcame him. The man reached forward and pushed a button, all the lights came back on in the elevator. He then pushed the button for the hospital's main entrance. House looked down breathing heavily and noticed the knife again. His leg was shaking under the weight of his body. The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

House was dragged out of the elevator as the man moved to the main area right outside of Cuddy's office. The man whipped out the knife and whistled for everyone's attention.

"Hey!" he yelled since the whistle hadn't seemed to get everyone's attention. House looked around at everyone staring at them.

"You see this man?" he beckoned at House. "He killed my brother. HE KILLED HIM!" The room was spinning and House's head was pounding as security moved a little closer. All of a sudden the knife was at his throat, the security guards stopped in their tracks. House was barely able to stand as he saw Cuddy walked out of the clinic and gasped at the sight before her. The man turned towards Cuddy.

"You, you're the dean. Why didn't you fire him? He killed my brother!" Cuddy tried to talk, but she was speechless. Sirens could be heard outside of the hospital as police officers rushed in. They stopped seeing House in his captor's grasp with the knife to his throat.

"One more step, and the knife will be in his throat." the evil man hissed. House closed his eyes hoping the guy would just stop talking and the cops would do something. He heard an officer trying to negotiate with the man, then he felt the feeling of the cold metal of the knife against his neck disappear. _He must be givi..._ House started to think before he felt something sharp pierce his abdomen. His entire body froze in shock as a heavy throbbing started. House yelled out in pain as he felt himself falling to the floor. He opened his eyes, looking around quickly as panic set in. A couple police officers were standing over him and a couple doctors rushed to him. Cuddy threw herself to the floor beside him and pulled his head up into her lap.

"It's okay, I'm here, House it's going to be okay..." he heard Cuddy trying to comfort him as he slowly closed his eyes and lost consciousness.

He had made it through surgery and was in his own room hooked up to machines. Cuddy and Wilson had convinced his attending doctors to have him sedated for a couple of days during the worst of the pain.

House woke up two days later.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked around the room. Turning his head so he could see the door he saw Wilson standing outside talking to a nurse. He saw House looking at him and rushed into the room. Once he reached House's bedside he began asking House if he was okay, if he could get him anything... and so on. House closed his eyes as Wilson's excited voice. His head had begun to throb a little and Wilson stopped suddenly noticing House was in pain. He adjusted the pain medication level and House opened his eyes again. Wilson was staring at him worried.

"Am I okay?" House asked hoarsely. Wilson answered,

"Yeah, I mean you're going to be in pain and not to mention the trauma, but... you're going to live." House nodded. Wilson watched as House reached his left hand up to his neck almost as if to scratch an itch. He realized it was where the knife had been as House set his hand back down.

Over the next few days Cuddy and Wilson sat with House for a couple ours each day. He was unusually quiet for House and spoke only when he needed to. Cuddy and Wilson tried everything to try and get his mind off of what had happened, seeing that it was stressing him out. House tried to take his mind of the incident too, but whenever he tried to pay attention to Wilson or Cuddy his mind drifted off.

A couple weeks later he was discharged. House didn't object when Wilson helped him into a wheelchair and pushed him to his car. In fact, he couldn't remember House saying anything during the entire process or even when they pulled up outside of House's home. After Wilson had helped inside and into bed, Wilson told House goodbye and reminded him to call himself or Cuddy if he needed anything. As he turned to leave, House said,

"Thanks." Wilson nodded his welcome and left.

A few weeks later House wakes up around ten. He gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom to take a shower. After his shower he walks back into his bedroom to find some clothes suitable for his first day back at work. He finishes getting ready and is soon riding his motorcycle to work.

When he walks through the front door people immediately glance at him. He limps slowly towards the elevator, moving slower with each step until he's standing directly in front of it. House pushes the button and without even thinking reaches up to his neck. That seemed to be happening a lot lately. He stepped into the elevator and looked down as the doors closed. His heartbeat increased slightly and he closed his eyes trying to stay calm. Before he knew it the doors were opening. He took in a deep breath and continued the journey to his office.

His team was in the conference room with a case. They had forgotten that he would be back and Foreman had begun leading the case, but stopped talking as House entered the room. His team noticed that he looked a few years older, but they shook off the thought and smiled at him, welcoming him back. They all gave their own welcome and after it was finished, Foreman held out the white board marker to House. He took it and set it down on the table, then grabbed the case file that Thirteen had been holding out to him. His team watched as he opened it and began reading. A few minutes later he looked up from the file then up to the symptoms written on the board. _What do I do now?_ He asked himself as panic set in. _I don't know what to do..._ he looked up to see them all staring at him. Grabbing the marker he looked at it for a second, then handed it back to Foreman.

"You keep going." he told Foreman who hesitated before turning back to the board. He sat down in a chair at the end of the table and looked at the board. His neck was itching. He reached up and started scratching his neck a little. There was a tiny scar and as his hand moved over it he winced a little. He tried to refocus his mind on the symptoms on the board and realized that Foreman was staring at him. Looking around the room he realized that his entire team was staring at him.

"House." Thirteen said.

"Should we run the tests or not" Foreman asked. House looked at them blankly then back at the board hoping something would pop into his head.

"Uhh, do whatever you think you need to." he said hoping they would all get up and leave to run the tests, which would leave him alone. But no, they were all still there looking at him, almost worried.

"House, are you okay?" Foreman asked moving closer to him.

"Fine." House answered with a small nod, but he still had a kind of blank look on his face. Foreman sighed knowing House wouldn't say anything else. He motioned to the rest of the team and they left.

After they left, House sat staring at the white board. He finally got up and decided to go down to the clinic. Cuddy found him ten minutes later standing at the nurses station looking through files. She walked up to him.

"You're actually doing clinic hours without me having to tell you?" she asked still unable to believe it. He looked up at her, then nodded and said,

"Yes." She looked at him for a minute as he looked back down at the file and continued reading through it.

"Are you okay?" she asked, House could hear the concern in her voice.

"I'm fine." He said taking the file and walking off to the clinic. She stared after him thinking, there was something about his voice, he seemed different. Shaking her head she decided she should talk to Wilson, he would know what was wrong.

She knocked on Wilson's door and opened it as he called her in. He looked at her surprised, she didn't usually come to his office, and she looked worried too.

"What's wrong with House?" she asked.

"What do you mean what's wrong with House?"

"I found him in the clinic and his team has a case." Wilson frowned at this.

"Well, I haven't seen him yet today, so... I have no idea, but that is weird for House."

"You should talk to him." Cuddy said, then turned to leave.

After she left Wilson sat thinking. He got up and walked down the hall to House's office. His team was in the conference room talking over the case and House was in his office. Wilson walked in to House's office.

"House." House looked up at Wilson.

"What do you want?" Wilson looked at him surprised at the question, he had expected House to ask something about how Wilson hadn't welcomed him back yet.

"Why aren't you in there with your team? You have a case don't you" Wilson asked.

"Can't think straight." House replied reaching to scratch his neck. Wilson noticed him scratching and frowned.

"Are you okay? Cuddy's worried about you."

"I'm fine Wilson. Don't you have anything better to do?" Wilson sighed then turned and left.

At the end of the day House left with out saying anything to his team. He got on his motorcycle and drove home. Limping into his apartment he pulled of his coat and threw his bag down. He stood looking around his apartment, unsure of what to do next. The phone rang. He walked over to the phone and looked at the screen. It was Wilson. Sighing he picked it up.

"Wilson." he said.

"House, hi, sorry Cuddy wanted me to talk to you again. She thinks you're hiding something and she wants me to figure out what it is." he heard House sigh.

"Wilson, I'm fine. Tell Cuddy to stop worrying about me. I'm _fine_." he emphasized the last fine. Wilson answered with a sigh,

"Fine, but please House, if there is anything wrong, call me or Cuddy." he heard the phone click as House hung up.

He had sat on the couch during the phone call and he now got up and walked to the door. Putting his coat back on he opened the door. He was soon back on his motorcycle and a few minutes later he arrived at a bar.

In the next hour he had downed more drinks then had planned on. The bartender looked out the window then at House.

"You should probably get going, it looks like it's beginning to snow." House followed his gaze and looked outside, sure enough it had begun snowing. He finished his last drink and pulled himself off he bar stool.

"Hey," House turned around at the bartender's voice. "Don't try driving through this, call a cab."

House nodded and left the bar. He pulled out his wallet and noticed he was out of money. So much for calling a cab. He went back to his motorcycle wishing he had worn a heavier coat. Looking around he realized he wasn't too far from Cuddy's house, so he set off in the direction of her house.

The snow was coming down harder now and House was having trouble seeing around him. All of a sudden he was sliding. He was flung from his bike and landed on the slick, ice covered curb. The snow was coming down harder then before and he began to panic. He realized he must have bumped his head as it was now throbbing. Ignoring the pain in his now freezing fingers, he reached into his pocket and began searching for his cell phone. Finding it he pulled it out and dialed Cuddy's number. He was now shaking and it seemed like hours before Cuddy finally answered.

"Hello?" there was no answer, she started to hang up but then she heard him,

"Cuddy." he gasped. His breathing was ragged now.

"House? Is everything alright?" she waited for his response.

"I'm near your house I think, crashed. Could you... come... get me? Please." Trying to stay calm she asked him where exactly he was.

"I don't know. Left the bar, then crashed." he said trying to figure out exactly where he was.

"Okay, don't worry. I'm on my way." She hung up. He lay there trying not to close his eyes, scared hypothermia would set in.

Cuddy drove around the streets near her home and was almost ready to give up and call 911 when she finally spotted his bike. She drove carefully over to where it was and pulled her car to a stop. He was there, shaking in the snow. She moved through the snow and was relieved to find him still awake, but he was miserable. There was a little bit of blood coming from a cut on his head, but it seemed to have stopped. She pulled him up and helped him to her car. Finally she got him seated and closed the door going around to the other side. She cranked up the heat and pulled a blanket from the backseat then handed it to him. He slowly pulled it over himself as Cuddy began driving them to her house. They pulled into her driveway and she helped him inside.

She led him to the bathroom and started filling the bathtub with hot water. He slowly started pulling off his soaking wet clothes and Cuddy went into her bedroom, telling him to call her if he needed anything. She came back into the bathroom a little while later carrying some of his clothes. She had forgotten why she had them, but didn't think about it too much. He thanked her when she set them down by the sink for him. After she left the room he slowly pulled himself out of the tub and began drying himself off. The hot bath had helped some, but he was still freezing. He finished drying himself then pulled on the pajama pants and the long sleeve shirt she had brought him.

She looked up as he walked out into her bedroom. He looked a little better, but he still let out a little shiver every once in a while.

"You can sleep in here. I'll take the couch." she said. He tried to object, but she assured him it was fine.

She pulled the covers back and he slid between them. He watched her as she pulled the covers back over him.

"Goodnight House." she smiled.

"Night." he said, sleep already overtaking him. She shut the light off and left the room closing the door behind her.

A couple hours later he woke up suddenly. He looked around in the dark almost scared.

"Cuddy!" he yelled before he could stop himself. He didn't hear anything so he yelled for her again.

"I'm coming! Hold on." he heard her say. The door swung open and she rushed to the bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Stay in here. Please." he said quietly. She sighed then crawled into bed next to him. He was still shivering a little she noticed. So she snuggled close to him, putting her hand on his chest. She felt his breathing slow and realized he was asleep. Despite her worry over him, she realized this felt good. Being close to him, being there for him.

He woke up the next morning feeling her move against him. She smiled at him and gave him a little kiss, telling him to go back to sleep. He drifted off again feeling her rubbing his chest lightly. A couple hours later he woke up again. This time she wasn't there. He looked around, then pulled himself out of her bed. Pulling on a hoodie he found near the bed he walked out of her bedroom. She wasn't there. He looked for his cellphone and instead ended up grabbing her home phone. After dialing her number, he sat down on the couch waiting for her to answer. He heard her pick up and before he could say anything she began apologizing,

"House, I'm sorry, I had to come in to work, there's tons of people here. Apparently snow causes lots of wrecks. I'm going to be home in a couple of hours, Wilson's going to take over for me, he doesn't want me away from home in this weather." House listened to her and looked out the window to see that it was once again snowing.

"House?" her voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Okay." he said.

"Okay, call me if you need anything. Please."

"Alright." she said bye then hung up.

_What's wrong with me? _He thought to himself. _Am I really afraid to be alone?_ He put the phone down and sat back into the couch. His head was hurting. Running his hand through his hair, he felt some dry blood. He went into the kitchen and starting searching the cabinets for some pain medicine, he stopped seeing his Vicodin on the counter. Closing the cabinet he poured out a couple Vicodin and dry swallowed them. His throat was burning, and he still had to do something about his head. He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. The glass was soon empty so he filled it again, drinking the water slower this time.

After finishing off the second glass he set it on the counter and walked to Cuddy's bathroom. He looked at the sore on his head in the mirror. House turned the water on and put his head underneath the faucet. He winced as he started picking at the dry blood to get it off. Standing back up he looked at his hand. There was some fresh blood on it. He quickly grabbed a towel, panicking maybe a little too much at the sight of the blood on his hand. Holding the towel to his head he started to feel dizzy. Slowly he moved to the toilet and sat down. He pulled the towel away and put his hand back up to the sore. Looking at his hand, he saw that it was still bleeding some. He sat there with the towel pressed against his head for who knows how long.

Cuddy finally made it home through all the snow. She was stressed from the drive and was a little worried when she opened the front door and called House's name. There was no answer. She walked down the hall to her bedroom calling his name again.

"I'm in here." he yelled back at her, his voice sounding a little strained. She pulled her coat off and walked through her bedroom and into the bathroom.

"Oh my god." she gasped seeing him sitting there with blood on his hand and a towel pressed against his head. She pulled the towel away and sighed in relief as it had stopped bleeding. Grabbing a washcloth she held it under the faucet until it was wet, she then began washing House's hands off and moved to his head wiping any other blood. She went back into her bedroom and came back with a small flashlight. He winced as she shined it in his eyes. She put the flashlight down and grabbed his hands.

"I'm sorry I left."

"It's okay." he said to her.

"Are you hungry? You should probably eat." he nodded.

Cuddy made him some soup and a sandwich. They sat together on her couch while he ate. When he finished she took his plate and bowl back into the kitchen. A couple minutes later she came back into the living room to find him asleep on the couch. All she could do was smile. While he slept she took a shower and put on some more comfortable clothes. She realized it was getting kind of late and she decided to wake him up so he could get in bed.

He was already awake, but she could tell he was tired. She led him to the bedroom and they both crawled under the covers and snuggled close to each other. Thinking he was asleep, she started to fall asleep herself.

"Cuddy." he said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I can't work at Princeton-Plainsboro anymore." she lifted her head up and looked at him questioningly.

"I can't think straight. I sat staring at that board of symptoms for almost an hour, and I honestly can't tell you the symptoms, or anything about the patient. I just can't do it anymore." he said honestly and Cuddy thought even fearfully.

"You just need some more time. You can't just quit."

"I have to though. I'm not going to get any better. All I think about, is... that day." he finished quietly.

"But what are you going to do? Get a job at another hospital?"

"No. I can't do that either."

"House, you can't just quit like that, you have to have some sort of job." Cuddy tried to reason with him.

"There was that website Kutner and Taub set up. I could always do that."

"Are you serious? House you are a great doctor! You can't be serious! People need you." He looked at her.

"People like you?" he looked at her and she turned away.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Cuddy. There are other diagnosticians out there. If I'm needed so much, then what happened while I was gone? Did every patient just die? No." She put her head down on his chest.

"You can't quit."

"Are you saying that just because you think that me quitting would mean I would no longer see you?"

"No. But I don't want you to leave."

"Cuddy, I won't leave. I just won't work there anymore. We could... still see each other." They both lay there in silence. She could feel his heart beating under her head. They were both soon asleep.

House woke up suddenly the next morning, his leg was killing him. Cuddy felt him move and woke up. They looked at each other smiling a little. She leaned in and kissed him. He put his hand on the back of her head and pulled her back into a deep kiss. She moaned a little as they kissed again and again. A few minutes later she was laying on top of him and he was running his fingers through her hair while she held on tightly to him with her head against his chest.

Wilson had called her the night before and told her not to come into work, that he would take care of everything for her since the weather was so bad. She was relieved since this meant she could spend more time with House.

She finally moved out of House's strong arms around noon to go take a shower. He lay there in her bed thinking. He wondered if this was really right, if they could even think of making a relationship work. His cellphone was on the table next to her bed and it started vibrating. He looked at it then finally picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, House. It's Wilson, how are you?"

"I'm fine. But that's not why you called is it?" House responded curious now.

"No, it isn't." House heard Wilson sigh. "There was a huge wreck. Six vehicles were involved."

"So?" House asked wondering why he needed to know about this.

"House. Your mom was in one of them." House suddenly felt nauseous.

"So, is she okay?" He asked.

"No. The paramedics said that she must have had a heart attack as the crash was happening... but it was too late." House was unsure of what to say next. Cuddy walked out of the bathroom wearing some sweatpants and the hoodie he had worn the day before. She saw his worried face and sat down next to him.

"House? Are you still there?" Wilson asked.

"I'm here."

"I'm sorry House. We already talked to your aunt, she's going to make the arrangements and I told her to call you with the details. I'm sorry."

"It's fine Wilson. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Call me if you want okay? But I guess you have Cuddy... Well just call if you need to."

"Bye." House said and hung up.

"What's wrong?" Cuddy asked putting her hand on his back. House told her what Wilson had just told him and was close to tears. Cuddy rubbed his back and pulled his head into her chest trying to comfort him. She held him for a few minutes then he sighed and pulled himself away from her.

"Thanks." She kissed him on the cheek.

"You're welcome... do you know when the funeral is yet?" He shook his head and added,

"No, my aunt's supposed to call about it though." he turned away from Cuddy. She squeezed his shoulder comfortingly then got up and went to the kitchen. He pulled himself out of bed and made his way to her living room. She walked in twenty minutes later with some food for him, but he was asleep. Smiling, she set the food down on her coffee table then went back into her bedroom to make the bed. His cellphone was vibrating. She picked it up and looked to see who was calling. Foreman. Sighing, she set it back down. House didn't need to be bothered by his team right now.

The cellphone stopped vibrating and just minutes later her home phone started ringing. Hoping it hadn't already woken up House she grabbed the phone from her nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Cuddy, Wilson said House was with you, we need him for a case." Foreman said.

"House won't be in anymore. He's done alright? So please just leave him alone and don't call my house ever again if it has to do with begging for House's help on a case. Got that?" She heard Foreman take a breath then,

"Fine, sorry then if the patient dies..." he trailed off.

"You can't guilt me into letting you talk to House. I doubt he would be much help anyway. Bye." she hung up.

Cuddy spent the rest of the day sitting on the couch near a sleeping House and working on paperwork. Every once in a while she would look down at him and smile. It was almost five before House woke up.

"Have a nice nap?" she asked smiling.

"Yeah." he smiled back. She went into the kitchen and warmed up his food from earlier then made something for herself. They sat for the second night in a row, side by side on her couch eating.

"I should probably go home soon." House said breaking the silence.

"Why?" Cuddy asked.

"Maybe get some clothes. I could stay with you, but I can't wear the same clothes everyday." She agreed, thinking of course! Cuddy realized she had been worried that he wanted to leave and never come back. They decided to go over to his apartment later so he could pick up some clothes.

**TBC**

**thanks for reading!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**first off, I'd like to say thanks for the reviews and suggestions from the first chapter**

**this is the second chapter and I apologize for it not being as long, and it isn't exactly full of action, but I was hoping to get something new up**

**I had originally planned for the chapters to be shorter anyway but it didn't quite happen with the first chapter**

**I promise it will get more exciting and the Huddyness will continue**

**thanks!  
**

Chapter 2

2 weeks had passed and House and Cuddy were officially together. At first Cuddy had been bombarded by questions from House's team concerning his return. She just kept telling them that he had quit and that was that. The board named Foreman head of diagnostics and life went on. As House and Cuddy had grown closer, Wilson and Cuddy had become better friends. They often talked over lunch and it took a lot of convincing to get him to stop worrying about House. Wilson knew he was in good hands, but he was worried House might become depressed. House didn't seem to fazed by his mother's death, but then again he had Cuddy there to comfort him. Wilson had been unable to make it to the funeral, but Cuddy assured him that House was alright.

It had been a long day and Cuddy was tired as she set out for home. House had pretty much moved in and she couldn't remember the last time he had been at his apartment. She pulled into the driveway and got out of her car then walked up to the front door and went into the house. House was asleep on the couch. She usually found him on the couch when she got home, but she didn't complain since had been having trouble sleeping a lot lately. Of course, one thing that hadn't changed since that traumatic day was his stubbornness. She had tried to get him to let her prescribe sleeping pills for him, but he wouldn't let her.

Cuddy took her coat off and hung it by the door. She started off towards the bedroom to change close and almost tripped on a pair of House's shoes. Sighing she kicked them out of the way, she had reminded him constantly that he couldn't just through his stuff anywhere since it was still her house, but of course he never listened. She made it to the bedroom and quickly changed into some yoga pants and one of House's older t-shirts.

House heard her walk into the kitchen and begin making dinner. He walked into the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Cuddy realized he was there and smiled, her back turned to him.

"See something you like?" she asked teasingly. He smiled then walked up behind her and kissed her on the cheek.

"What's for dinner?" he asked, his arm now around her waist.

"Well since I was stuck at work later, I'm home late, and my lousy boyfriend thinks he can't cook, I'm going to warm up left overs." she said turning around in his grasp to face him.

"That's some lousy boyfriend. And let me guess, he doesn't do anything all day?" she faked astonishment,

"How could you possibly know that?" she asked sarcastically. He smiled then kissed her quickly on the lips.

"Seriously though, when are you going to get a job or a hobby or something?" she asked pulling herself from his arms and walking to the kitchen to pull out leftovers.

"I don't know. When I get bored maybe?" he replied watching her stick some food in the microwave.

"What did you do today? It must have been fun since you insist that you aren't bored." she asked knowing that he had to bored out of his mind. He scratched his chin, pretending to think.

"Well. Let's see... I played some guitar, I ate some cereal, I... caught up on some TiVo. I'm sure there's more, let me see..." he pretended to think some more.

"How could you have TiVo to catch up on if you spend the entire day at home?" Cuddy asked in disbelief. He shrugged. At this time the microwave timer went off and they sat down at the table to eat.

She loved him very much, but he couldn't just sit around all day, everyday, yet she couldn't think of anything for him to do. He had already made it clear that he wouldn't work at any hospital other then Princeton-Plainsboro, but he wouldn't last a minute with a boss other then Cuddy.

"Whatever happened to that website Kutner made?" she asked.

"I made him take it down when I found out about it." he replied.

"Maybe you could make a new one? Or... well... nevermind." she said look down at her food trying to avoid his gaze.

"Or what?" he said curious now.

"Well... I was thinking... maybe you could do consults with the diagnostic department from home." he looked at her.

"I guess." he said looking down at his food.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to do it?" Cuddy asked looking at him.

"What if I've lost it? What if I don't know what to do with a case?" he asked. Cuddy was surprised, this wasn't like House.

"You don't know until you try. And you wouldn't have to be at the hospital, you could stay right here and consult over email and phone calls." Cuddy said reassuringly. House thought for a moment then said,

"I could give it a try." Cuddy instantly smiled and put her hand on his.

"I'll talk to Foreman and the board tomorrow."

The next day House was woken up by his cellphone ringing. He rolled over to look at the clock on Cuddy's side and cursed seeing that it wasn't even ten.

"Hello" he mumbled answering the phone.

"Oh, sorry, did I wake you?" Cuddy asked sarcastically. "I just thought I'd let you know that the board has agreed to hire you as a consultant."

"That's great, I'm going back to bed." House said getting ready to hang up.

"No, you aren't. Foreman is going to call you in a little bit with information on a new case." Cuddy responded.

"But mom!" House complained.

"Grow up already. It's not that early."

"Yes, actually it is." House responded. They talked a little bit longer before saying their goodbyes and hanging up.

Just as Cuddy has said, Foreman called a few minutes later to give him the details on their new case. House was surprised to find out that he knew exactly what he was doing and he had soon gotten Foreman to send the team off to run their tests. House figured he had a couple hours until they were done with the tests, so he went and took a shower. He sat down in front of the TV and not long after, his cellphone was ringing again. House discussed the test results with his old team over speaker phone. They had soon come to a conclusion and House was sure they solved the case. He ordered the necessary tests to confirm then hung up.

He wasn't sure yet how he felt about this new job, but it was something to do other then watch TV all day.

Cuddy had just talked to Foreman before leaving for home. She was happy to find that House had helped them solve a case that day and there had been no problems. Cuddy hoped this would put him in a good mood since she had hoped to talk to him tonight about a large gala coming up at the hospital to show appreciation for donors and hopefully gain some new ones.

**TBC...**

**thanks for reading !**


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